to disturb, or be disturbed, by the mutual communication of thought. Mr.
Warner, in his survey of this ruin, was much disappointed; but I cannot
help allowing, although the view from it was inferior to Chepstow, that
its antiquated walls wear a nobler appearance; and the gloom that reigns
around it forces a sigh, and evinces the transitory nature of sublunary
greatness. The antiquity of the building is very obscure. Passing
through the village of Caldecot, we soon entered
CAERWENT,
on the western side, through the broken fragments of its walls, of which
one immense mass has recently fallen. This ancient town is now a
village, with a few scattered cottages, but was formerly celebrated,
under the auspices of Agricola, for its temples, theatre, porticoes, and
baths; few vestiges of its former splendour are now extant. A few
fragments of loose stones only remain to point out its former extent. In
an orchard, adjoining a farm-house belonging to Mr. Lewis, is the
beautiful tesselated Roman pavement, discovered in the year 1777. The
tesseræ or dies, about an inch in breadth, and half in depth, are nearly
square, consisting of four colours, red, yellow, blue, and white, {27}
which are still in great preservation; the whole is surrounded with a
border, much resembling a Turkey carpet. The daily depredations on these
curious remains of antiquity are greatly to be lamented.
In the road from Caerwent, amongst other objects for admiration, the
mansion of Sir Robert Salusbury, on the left, commanding an extensive
view, attracted our notice. Passing through the neat village of
Christ-church, animated with white-washed cottages, and graced with its
simple church, which stands on an eminence, we left the turnpike-road at
the thirteenth mile-stone; and following a footpath through some fields,
near the banks of the Usk, soon entered the ancient city of Caerleon.
CAERLEON
has been celebrated in all ages of British History. It was a Roman city
of great power, strength, and importance, under the name of _Isca
Silurum_, and their chief station in the country of the _Silures_; and
equally, and perhaps still more known, for having been King Arthur’s seat
of government: a prince, equally renowned in history, chivalry, and
poetry. This city was formerly a metropolitan see, but Saint David, the
national saint of Wales, thinking the noisy intercourse of a populous
city, like Caerleon, ill adapted for contemplation, or the solitary cast
of his mind, removed it to Minevia, which from that period has been
called Ty Dewi by the Welch, and Saint David by the English. {28} The
remains of its ancient grandeur are still discernible. Whilst tracing
the extent of its amphitheatre, surrounded by a circular entrenchment, we
took a retrospect on the exertions of man, the fate of kingdoms, and of
rulers; and, marking the grand destruction of ages, it seemed to convince
us of the transientness of human worth and happiness!
Re-ascending Christ-church hill we had a fine view of the county of
Monmouth like a map beneath us. Near
NEWPORT
a new stone bridge has been erected by contract for ten thousand one
hundred and sixty-five pounds, by Mr. Edwards, son to the Edwards who
built the famous Pont-y-pridd. It consists of five arches.
The commerce and population of this town are greatly increased of late
years. As a sea-port it is safe; its chief trade is in iron and coal.
The Monmouthshire Canal communicates here by a basin with the Usk river,
and by that means with the Bristol Channel; and as the Monmouthshire
Canal again communicates with the Brecon Canal and the Avon, Ebwy and
other rail roads, Newport becomes the grand depôt for the heavier
articles of trade of that part of the interior of South Wales. The
Crumlin bridge branch is eleven miles five furlongs, its falls three
hundred and sixty-five feet. Pontypool, eleven miles, falls four hundred
and forty-seven feet. Brecknock, thirty-seven miles seven furlongs.
A circuitous, but more romantic route from Chepstow to Newport, is
re-crossing the Wye, passing over the forest of Dean, through Saint
Briaval’s to Monmouth. The road is not bad, but narrow; if travelling
with a carriage, it will be necessary to be provided with a horn, which,
upon your sounding, if you find answered, you must wait till the party so
answering comes past.
The views to the right over the Severn and Gloucestershire are most rich
and extensive, and those from the summits of the overhanging rocks of the
Wye, awful and terrific: before you reach Monmouth the country becomes
thickly inhabited, which the beautiful situations it affords readily
accounts for; and from Monmouth to Ragland and Usk the same continues to
be the case.
RAGLAND CASTLE,
one of the finest ruins in Wales, (for although Monmouthshire is now an
English county, it formerly was Welch,) stands near the village of that
name: it may be pleasantly and leisurely viewed in the day, with Usk and
Caerleon, affording time to reach Newport.
The first view of it is considerably impeded by the surrounding trees,
but the closer inspection presents such a mass of ruin as well proves its
ancient strength and grandeur. From the citadel, which lies to the south
of the main building, the communication was by a drawbridge over the
moat, by which it was surrounded; it was a hexagon, apparently five
stories high, and of much strength, with bastions.
Round the citadel were raised walks, and in the walls are small recesses.
A stone staircase still remains, leading to the top of one of the towers,
from which not only the ruins, but the adjacent country, are viewed to
much advantage. The two courts of the castle both communicate with the
terrace.
The main entrance is magnificent, much overhung with ivy; the gothic
portal is defended by two massive towers, and the building being faced
with hewn free-stone, exhibits a less desolate aspect than it would
otherwise do. The whole range of offices and apartments appears to have
been on a splendid scale, and the building shows various specimens of
architecture, from the time of Henry the Fifth to that of Charles the
First.
The large banqueting hall divides the two courts; it still retains the
arms of the Marquis of Worcester, with the motto “Mutare vel timere
sperno.”
During the civil wars, Henry, first Marquis of Worcester, several times
afforded a refuge to Charles the First, but at length, when that
monarch’s fortune was past retrieving, Ragland Castle, after having been
various times summoned by detachments of the Parliamentary forces, was
regularly invested and taken by Sir Thomas Fairfax; a window is still
shewn through which a girl in the garrison, by waving a handkerchief,
introduced his troops. The aged marquis was sent prisoner to London,
where he died in the 85th year of his age, and his property having been
confiscated, and the castle dismantled, it became a prey to his own
tenantry, who pulled it down for the sake of the materials, but more
particularly for the staircases, of which they removed above twenty.
At the Restoration, this, with other estates, was restored to the family,
but in such a state of ruin, that being considered unworthy their
repairing, it was left as an object of pillage to the vicinity, which it
has but lately, since its ruins have become venerable, ceased from being.
It appertains to the noble house of Beaufort.
The library, which was here destroyed by the mad fanatic soldiery of
Cromwell, is greatly to be regretted, as it possessed Welch manuscripts
of great importance; the collection was very large, and the loss not to
be estimated, many being unique.
The domain appertaining to this princely residence was very extensive,
and well arranged, and in Ragland Church are still to be seen the
vestiges of splendid memorials erected for Marquises of Worcester, and
other noble personages.
USK, or CASTRUM ISCA,
which is the next place of note on the route, is believed to be the
Burrium of the Romans. It was formerly a place of much note; its
situation is low, but capable of being rendered most beautiful, its
surrounding scenery holding forth the most tempting lures to improve
nature by art, at a trifling expense.
The Usk is here become a noble river, and its fish, particularly its
salmon, are held in the highest estimation. Along the river is a
beautiful walk to the ruins of the castle, from which you gain a fine
view of the town, and the surrounding slopes and heights, and in few
places is to be seen so large a body of clear water, in so expanded and
rapid a stream. At the time of our visit it was not the season for
fishing, but I must confess, I sighed to leave it behind me. To the
fly-fisher few places hold forth such inducements to settle as Usk. I
fancied myself in a Swiss valley where I could cultivate my vines, my
lavender, and my roses, supply my table with exquisite fish and game,
enjoy pure air, and a fine climate.
The best and pleasantest road to Caerleon is over the bridge to
Llanbaddock, three furlongs; by Llangibby Castle, and Llangibby, one mile
two furlongs; to Lanhenock, three miles; Caerleon, two miles fseven
furlongs; Newport, five miles.
CAERLEON
boasts numerous inducements to stay the progress of the antiquary; it is
by some called the Isca Augusta, or Isca Colonia of the Romans, and was a
principal garrison, being the head quarters or main station of the second
Augustan legion, having under it numerous other stations.
Mr. Cox states the shape of this ancient city to be an oblong square,
three sides straight, the fourth curved; the south angle is near the end
of the Round Table field, where the walls are nearly twelve feet thick;
the south-west side passes the amphitheatre parallel to the Usk; the
walls are again to be traced by the Broadway along the Benhouse field;
the west angle runs alongside the Malpas road; on this flank a gateway
leads to Goldcroft common; the north angle forms part of a stable in the
New Inn yard, is again visible in the Castle yard, and turns the east
angle near a rail-road by the Castle ditch; hence the line curves again,
touches on the foss of the Castle, passes through gardens, &c. and is
lost in a lane near the quay till it again becomes discernible near the
south angle. The circumference of the walls, in which there appear to
have been four gates, one in the centre of each flank, was about 1800
feet.
It was a station of the Prætor, and its splendid palaces, its stately
edifices and gilded roofs, might, according to Giraldus Cambrensis’
exaggerated account, have vied with those of Rome itself; its baths, its
aqueducts, its stoves, and proofs of ancient grandeur, were even in his
time amply displayed in their ruins; numerous are the coins that have
been here collected, and the riches this spot has afforded to the
cabinets of the curious.
Between Caerleon and Newport is St. Julians, once the residence of Lord
Herbert of Cherbury: the walk to it in fine weather is pleasant, and
although now converted into a farmhouse, traces of its former
respectability are evident. In a small barn near to it are likewise to
be seen the remains of St. Julian’s abbey. According to some accounts,
such was the extent of Caerleon in the days of its grandeur, that it
extended as far as Christ Church and this place, and covered a tract of
country nine miles in circumference.
Ascending the Gam, the ships in the Bristol Channel, with the islands
Flat and Steep Holmes rising in the midst of the sea, and the shores of
Somerset and Devon, formed pleasing objects in the distant view, whilst
the mellow green of nearer woods and meadows, watered by the Usk, made a
combination of views gay and beautiful.
Newport Castle, standing on the bank of the river Usk, is a small
distance from the bridge: it evidently appears to have been once a place
of considerable extent, and built for the defence of the passage over the
river; three strong towers commanded the Usk, but towards the town, a
common wall, without any flanks, seems to have been its sole defence.
Some of the windows still remain, the relics of Gothic architecture, and
appear to have been elegantly decorated. From the tower is a fine view
of the Usk. Between Newport and
CARDIFF
we crossed the little stream of Ebwith, near the Park of Tredegar House,
belonging to Sir Charles Morgan. The grounds are well planned, and
command the hills of Machen and Twynbarlwm, with the Church of Bassaleg
rising in the centre, on an eminence. The whole valley, indeed, lies
prettily. Passing through the villages of Pediston and Castletown, we
soon reached the bridge of two arches, over the river Romney, which
divides England from Wales.
The situation of Cardiff is on a low flat, near the mouth of the Taff,
over which is a bridge, built by Mr. Parry, in the year 1796: it consists
of three large and two smaller arches. The tower of the Church is very
light, and of elegant workmanship; but there is nothing in the inside
worthy of notice.
The Castle derives its name from the river Taff, which washes its walls;
Caertaph signifying the town or castle upon Taff. Robert Fitzham, on
having conquered Glamorganshire, divided the country into different
portions, among twelve Norman knights, as a reward for their service,
took for his own share the town of Cardiff, and erected, in the year
1110, this Castle, in which he generally resided, and held his court of
chancery and exchequer. In the beginning of May, 1645, during the
troubles under King Charles I., it was in the possession of the
Royalists, but it was surrendered to the Parliament before August, 1646.
We entered the Castle by two strong gates, which still remain in great
preservation, but we were displeased with the modern architecture of the
new-built mansion; the neat shorn grass and the gravel walk were
circumstances that ill accorded with the mutilated walls of an ancient
ruin, which has braved the storms of so many centuries. The circumstance
which tends to insure this castle a melancholy place in history, is the
unjust confinement of Robert, Duke of Normandy, brother to William Rufus,
and King Henry I. The accounts, however, of his confinement have been
greatly exaggerated by historians; but a dark vaulted room beneath the
level of the ground, measuring nearly a square of fifteen feet and a
half, is still pointed out as the place of his confinement; a small
crevice in the top, about half a yard in length, and three inches wide,
was the only place to admit the air. In this situation he died, after an
imprisonment of twenty-six years, and was buried in Gloucester Cathedral,
where his effigy, as large as life, carved in Irish oak, and painted, is
yet shown.
The Keep, which is still very perfect, of an octagon shape, stands on an
eminence in the centre of a large square. Having walked round the
ramparts, which command extensive views of the adjacent country, we
visited the Castle itself, which has within these few years been
repaired, but still remains in an unfinished state.
In the dining-room are some portraits, in length, of the Windsor family:
the most striking are, Sir William, who first raised forces for Queen
Mary. Sir Edward, who first entered the breach, at the taking of St.
Quintin, in Flanders, where the famous constable De Montmorency was taken
prisoner.
In the breakfast parlour is a family piece, consisting of seven figures:
it was painted in the year 1568. Holbein, I rather imagine, was the
painter: it consists of two sisters playing at cards, and two brothers at
drafts, with Edward, Earl of Windsor, and his lady, looking on. The
style is stiff, with ruffs, small black caps and feathers.
Andrew Windsor, to the right of the fire-place; general _Kneller_.
in the reign of Queen Anne, serving in the
twenty-eighth regiment of foot
Thomas Windsor to the left, who served in several wars _Kneller_.
of William and Queen Anne, and was colonel of the third
regiment of Dragoon guards, in the reign of King George
I.
Lady Ursula Windsor _Kneller_.
Hon. Master Windsor _Unknown_.
A good painting of Ursula, Countess of Windsor, with _Kneller_.
her grand-daughter Ursula Windsor
Thomas, Lord Windsor, governor of Jamaica. _Vandyke_.
Hon. Charlotta Windsor _Dahl_.
Hon. Ursula Windsor _Ibid_.
Hon. Dixia Windsor, storekeeper of the ordnance, and for six
successive parliaments member for Cambridge.
This Castle belongs to the Marquis of Bute. In this place, Robert, Earl
of Gloucester, founded a priory of White Friars, and another of Black,
which continued till the reign of King Henry VIII. Only the shell of the
White Friars is now extant, and the ruins of the Black Friars are
inhabited by fishermen. It has only one church, which is of Norman
architecture, with a rich and handsome west door, and an elegant tower.
The races at Cardiff, in October, are very good, and with the balls, are
frequented by a brilliant display of beauty and fashion; the ordinaries
are likewise well attended by the principal nobility and gentry of the
country, and are very good.
From Cardiff we walked to inspect the remains of the once celebrated city
of
LLANDAFF.
The ruins of the old Cathedral are very beautiful; the door-cases are all
Norman architecture, elegantly moulded; two of which, on the north and
south sides, are fine specimens of that order. All the other parts are
Gothic: the nave is unroofed. Within these ruins we entered the
Cathedral, which carries with it more the appearance of a modern theatre
than a place of divine worship, so erroneous was the taste of the
architect, in combining with the sacred Gothic a fantastical work of his
own. Among several ancient monuments, are two very elegant ones of the
Mathews family, {38a} whose descendants own the site of the bishop’s
castle, of which only the gate remains: the rest, with the archdeacon’s
house, was destroyed by Owen Glendour. {38b} There are likewise the
monuments of two Bishops, with another, and the figure of Lady Godiva,
full length, carved in marble on it.
The present cathedral was built by Bishop Urban, about the year 1107: its
length is two hundred and sixty-three feet and a half, breadth sixty-five
feet, and height one hundred and nineteen feet; like Bangor, it has no
cross aisle.
Near this city is the rural village and the castle of St. Fajans,
celebrated for a sanguinary battle, fought in its vicinity between the
Royalists and Republicans, during the Protectorate of Cromwell, in which
the former were defeated with the loss of nearly the whole of their
troops. Llandaff, although it ranks as an episcopal city, and was one of
the first places in the British dominions in which a religious
establishment was founded, boasting the erection of its first church A.D.
186, is now little better than a village dependant on Cardiff for its
supplies: even its clergy find few inducements to draw their attention to
it, beyond what duty requires: they possess a chapter-room, kitchen, and
office for the Proctor-general, yet seldom meet more than once a year for
the audit.
Llandaff stands on a small eminence, commanding a view of Cardiff and the
surrounding country.—We returned again to Cardiff, and the first six
miles of our road to
CAERPHILY
were not very interesting, till ascending Thorn Hill, the beauties of the
vale below, with the Flat and Steep Holmes rising in the distant
prospect, the ruins of Cardiff Castle, and the ivy-mantled walls of
Llandaff cathedral, amply compensated for the trouble of climbing this
eminence. A little farther on, Caerphily Castle burst upon our sight,
and
—“seemed to frown
In awful majesty on all around.”
The founder, and the time of its erection, are very uncertain; but I
refer my readers to the first volume of the _Archæologia_; to an
ingenious Dissertation, by Daines Barrington, where it is satisfactorily
proved to have been the work of King Edward I. This castle is one of the
noblest ruins of ancient architecture now remaining in the kingdom, and
exceeds all in bigness, except that of Windsor. The hall and the chapel
may still be traced; the former measures about seventy feet in length,
thirty-four in breadth, and seventeen in height. The roof is vaulted
about eight feet high, and supported by twenty arches. On the north side
is a chimney ten feet wide, with two windows on each side, extending down
to the floor, and carried above the supposed height of this room. At
each angle was originally a round tower of four stories, communicating
with each other by a gallery. On the west side of the hall stairs is a
low round tower, of one story, called the Mint-house, with three painted
arches on the south side, and a square well on the west. The leaning
tower, towards the east end, more particularly engaged our notice: it is
divided into two separate parts by a large fissure, which runs from the
top down almost to the middle. Its lineal projection is supposed to be
on the outer side about eleven feet and a half. On the west and north
are visible vestiges of a draw-bridge.
The east wall, on the south side of the principal entrance, is fluted
between the buttresses, with battlements on their tops, to protect the
intermediate walls.
This castle was that to which the Spensers retired in the reign of Edward
II. but being taken, there were discovered within the walls, 2,000 fat
oxen, 12,000 cows, 25,000 calves, 30,000 fat sheep, 600 horses, 2,000 fat
hogs; besides 2,000 beeves, 600 sheep, and 1,000 hogs salted: 200 tons of
wine, 40 tons of cider, and wheat for 2,000 men for four years.
We now came to the celebrated
VALE OF GLAMORGAN,
so justly styled the Garden of South Wales: the rapid Taff forms an
almost continued uproar for many miles; on the opposite side the
mountains rose almost perpendicularly in a massy wall, and sometimes to
the water’s edge, finely clothed with wood. Every circumstance conspired
to heighten the solitary grandeur of the scene, and to prolong the
luxurious melancholy which the views inspired. In this celebrated vale
is found the famous Pont-y-prid, or New Bridge, about three quarters of a
mile from the Duke of Bridgewater’s Arms. This wonderful bridge of one
arch is the segment of a circle; the chord of it is one hundred and forty
feet, and the height of the key-stone from the spring of the arch,
thirty-two feet and a half. It was erected in the year 1750, by William
Edwards, a country mason, who failed in his attempt three times, till he
lightened the abutments; it has resisted for many years the torrents of
the Taff.
This bridge, which in its present state is nearly useless, might, at a
very trifling expense, be made as useful as it is wonderful; but the
river, which is at most times fordable, renders this perhaps unnecessary.
Till this bridge was erected, the Rialto at Venice was esteemed the
largest arch in Europe; its span or chord being ninety-eight feet: but
this bridge is forty-two feet wider; being, it is supposed, the largest
arch in the world.
Wales is generally remarkable for its white-washed cottages, the origin
of which custom is attributed to Glamorganshire: the cleanliness, as far
as this county is concerned, is chiefly on the outside; but so great is
their attachment to lime white, that even the stone garden-wall, the
pig-sty, or any stone within moderate distance of the cottage, receives
its due share of attention; in some parts even the blue slate roof, which
to the eyes of an Englishman forms a happy contrast to the whitened wall,
is offensive to the eyes of the Welsh, and the roof undergoes the same
process as the walls.
The intrusion of art in this romantic valley, where nature has been so
lavish of her beauties, is much to be lamented. A canal, for the purpose
of conveying the iron from the Merthyr works to Cardiff, renders that a
place of frequent business and confusion, which was originally so well
adapted to retirement and reflection.